Notes.

Much amusement was afforded passengers on the Southern Cross one day in October, 1890, when they observed, off Tuparoa, an elderly native couple, with the help of a lad, towing a small dead whale ashore. The find was sold to Sir G. Whitmore; it yielded three tuns of black oil, worth £40.

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There was considerable excitement at East Cape in January, 1885, when the American whaler John Winthorp put in, a mutiny having broken out. Eight men got away on one of her boats, but they surrendered when they were overhauled by an armed crew in another boat. Before the ship proceeded on her voyage the mutineers were flogged and put in irons.

A serious mishap occurred off Pokotakino in August, 1888. Two boats' crews had made a strike upon a whale. With a wicked swish of its tail the monster smashed one of the boats to matchwood and stove in the other. A native who was drawn under was not seen again. Accompanying boats rescued the survivors, and when the injured whale rose to blow it was secured.

Some of the whaling-stations on the East Coast were owned by natives and natives were attached to all the pakeha-owned stations. Tuparoa proved a profitable location for J. E. Dalton and his crews in the 1880's. Henare Potae was a great whaling enthusiast and, during several seasons, he used Mawhai for a base.